Improved hammock and shelter

ABSTRACT

A hammock including: a watertight canvas of elongated shape along a longitudinal axis, the canvas having two longitudinal edges extending parallel to the longitudinal axis and two transversal edges connecting the ends of the longitudinal edges, a slide fastener having two closure strips attached to the canvas, which extend on one face of the canvas respectively along the two longitudinal edges, and two members for receiving a pole which are integral with the canvas, face each other and extend on said face of the canvas, between the closure strips, and are located respectively in the middles of the two longitudinal edges.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a hammock and to a shelter formed with one or more hammocks.

The invention relates in particular to a hammock which can be used to form a shelter.

STATE OF THE ART

Application US2005/0188460A1 describes a hammock that can be used to form a shelter.

The hammock includes an elongated piece of fabric with two straight longitudinal edges parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fabric, and two curvilinear transversal edges formed by two arches. The transversal edges are reinforced by a strap that extends such that the hammock can be attached to a support such as a tree.

The shelter includes a mosquito net covering the hammock, a rain cover covering the mosquito net and hammock, and poles supporting the net and cover, which are engaged in holes in each reinforced corner of the hammock.

A transversal reinforcement is held in place by pockets located in two locations of the cover.

Zippers allow a door and window of the mosquito screen to be opened and closed. Another zipper extends down the cover from the pocket holding the transversal pole to form an opening allowing entrance under the cover.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A disadvantage of the shelter disclosed in application US2005/0188460A1 is that it has many component parts, whereby its weight and cost are high, and its installation is long and complex.

An objective of the invention is to offer a simple, light, and inexpensive shelter.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a shelter that improves and/or at least partially remedies the shortcomings or disadvantages of known shelters.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a simple, light, and inexpensive hammock that can be used to form the roof of a shelter.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a hammock that improves and/or remedies at least in part the shortcomings or disadvantages of known hammocks.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a hammock comprising a watertight canvas of elongated shape along a longitudinal axis, the canvas having two longitudinal edges extending (substantially) parallel to the longitudinal axis and two transversal edges connecting the ends of the longitudinal edges, the hammock comprising:

-   -   a slide fastener having two closure strips integral with the         canvas, which extend on one face of the canvas along (and at a         distance from) the two longitudinal edges, respectively, and     -   two members for receiving a pole, which are integral with the         canvas, face each other and extend on said face of the canvas,         between the closure strips, and are respectively disposed         (substantially) in the middles of the two longitudinal edges.

An elongated pole may then be detachably attached to the hammock canvas by inserting its end portions into the pole-receiving members to support the canvas when the hammock is used to form the roof of a shelter.

In addition, several hammocks may be joined together along their respective longitudinal edges and may be attached together in pairs by their respective closure strips to form the roof of a larger shelter.

The hammock preferably has several fasteners for rope-like links, such as closed loops, which are attached to the canvas and extend along each of the longitudinal edges.

The hammock preferably has several pole fasteners, such as open loops made of auto-attaching material, which are integral with the canvas and extend between the closure strips near the ends of the longitudinal edges.

Each of the transversal edges may be straight or curvilinear, in part or in whole.

The transversal edges of the canvas may be reinforced, preferably by at least one sleeve for receiving a deformable link such as a strap for attaching the hammock to a support such as a tree.

The closure strips preferably have molded—in particular injection-molded—teeth made of plastic or metal.

According to another aspect of the invention, a shelter is provided comprising a roof canvas including a hammock according to the invention or several hammocks according to the invention which are joined (longitudinal) edge to (longitudinal) edge two by two by their respective closing strips.

According to another aspect of the invention, a shelter is provided comprising a waterproof roof canvas of elongated shape along a longitudinal axis, the canvas having two longitudinal edges extending (substantially) parallel to the longitudinal axis and two transversal edges connecting the ends of the longitudinal edges, the shelter comprising:

-   -   a slide fastener having two (toothed) closure strips integral         with the canvas, which extend on one face of the canvas along         (and at a distance from) the two longitudinal edges,         respectively;     -   a first compliant elongated (ridge) pole having a first length         close to—and generally less than—the width (measured between the         longitudinal edges) of the canvas;     -   two second compliant elongated poles each having a second length         close to—and generally greater than—the diagonal (measured         between two respective opposite ends of the two longitudinal         edges) of the canvas;     -   a connector for connecting the first and second poles; and     -   two members for receiving the first pole, which are integral         with the canvas, extend on said face of the canvas, between the         closure strips, and face each other and are respectively located         (substantially) in the middles of the two longitudinal edges.

With this configuration, a simple tunnel shelter may be created whose roof canvas is supported by the second, crossed poles and by the ridge pole.

The shelter preferably furthermore comprises a support structure for maintaining a certain distance between two respective end portions of the two second poles which cross each other at their summits.

This support structure preferably includes—and may essentially be comprised of—at least one strip pierced by at least one hole for receiving one of the end portions of the second poles.

The shelter may include a tent—or tent chamber—with a roof that hangs from the second poles.

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention appear in the following description, which refers to the appended figures and illustrates, without limitation, embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a hammock that may form at least part of a shelter roof.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of another hammock that may form at least part of a shelter roof.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of another hammock that may form at least part of a shelter roof.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of another hammock receiving a ridge pole to form at least part of a shelter roof.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a first hammock suspended from two supports and a shelter roof adapted to the first hammock, which is formed by one (or more) second hammock(s) substantially identical to the first hammock.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a tunnel shelter whose roof is made of a hammock supported by two crossed, arcuate poles and a ridge pole.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of another tunnel shelter whose roof is made of several identical hammocks joined together in pairs by their respective closure strips.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of crossed poles of a tunnel shelter and two strips to maintain the mutual spacing of the ends of the crossed poles.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of intersecting poles in a connection part.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of a tunnel shelter with a tent chamber.

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of another shelter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Unless explicitly or implicitly indicated otherwise, elements or members that are identical or similar—structurally or functionally—are designated by identical labels on the various figures.

Referring in particular to FIGS. 1 and 4, the hammock 10 has a waterproof canvas 11, rectangular in shape and extending along a longitudinal axis 12.

Canvas 11 has two straight longitudinal edges 13, 14 extending parallel to the longitudinal axis 12 and two straight transversal edges 15, 16 connecting the ends of the longitudinal edges.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, canvas 11 has two arcuate transversal edges 15, 16, curved towards the inside of the canvas, while in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, each of the transversal edges 15, 16 is formed by two arches (labelled 16 a, 16 b), curved towards the inside of the canvas and extending symmetrically to the axis 12.

Canvas 11 may be one to two meters wide, in particular about 1.5 meters, and two to four meters long, in particular about three meters.

Each transversal edge 15, 16 of the canvas may be provided with a sleeve or sheath 17 that can be formed by a hem in the canvas, which serves to reinforce the transversal edge and to receive a rope-like deformable link such as a rope or a strap (labels 18, FIGS. 5 and 11) used to attach the hammock to a support.

For this purpose, sleeve 17 is open at both ends 17 a, where these ends may be beveled as shown in FIG. 4.

In addition, a reinforcing tape can be sewn with hem 17 along each transversal edge.

The hammock has a zipper fastener with two closure strips 20, 21 attached to the fabric and a zip or slider (not shown) sliding along one of the two strips 20, 21.

The zipper is “open-ended” so that the two strips 20, 21 are separable from each other.

Each closure strip has a series of connecting elements or teeth, which are spaced at a constant pitch along the length of the strip.

The slider is used to join (interlock) the teeth of one of the two strips with those of the other strip—or, on the contrary, to separate the teeth of one of the two strips from those of the other strip—in order to close—respectively open—the zipper.

The slider is preferably reversible or has two pull tabs, so that the zipper fastener can be opened and closed from either side of the fastener.

The two closing strips extend on one of the two faces of the fabric, parallel to axis 12 and at a short distance from the two longitudinal edges 13, 14, respectively.

Thus, two hammocks having identical slider fasteners can be mutually secured to each other along their longitudinal edges by engagement of a closure strip of one of the hammocks, which is provided with a slider to form a “female” closure strip, with a closure strip of the other hammock, which is devoid of a slider and forms a “male” closure strip.

This achieves a larger hammock and a larger shelter when the hammock is used in the roofing of the shelter.

The hammock has two members 22, 23 for receiving a rectilinear pole designated by 30 in FIG. 4, which are integral with the fabric, face each other and extend on said face of the fabric, between the closing strips, and are located in the respective middles of the two longitudinal edges.

Each receiving member 22, 23 may essentially consist of a sleeve or sheath extending along a transverse median axis 80 (FIG. 4) of the fabric which is then merged with the longitudinal axis of the pole 30.

Each sleeve 22, 23 is open at its “inner” end (the end closest to the longitudinal axis 12), so that the respective openings of the two sleeves face each other.

Each sleeve may be closed at its “outer” end (the end furthest from the longitudinal axis 12), so that each sleeve forms a pocket to receive an end portion 30 a of the pole 30.

The hammock 10 has several fasteners 40, 40 c for attaching rope-like deformable links such as straps or stays, which fasteners are integral with the canvas 11 and are evenly spaced along each of the longitudinal edges 13, 14.

Each fastener 40 may essentially consist of one (closed) loop.

The hammock 10 also has four pole fasteners 50 designated by 31, 32 in FIG. 8, which are attached to the canvas and extend between the closure strips near the ends of the longitudinal edges 13, 14.

Each pole fastener 50 may essentially consist of an open loop that may be formed from a strip provided with self-adhering fasteners (such as hooks and loops), which is attached to the fabric by its middle (central) portion, and the ends of which may be joined together to encircle a pole.

The attachment to the fabric of the closure strips 20, 21, the pole-receiving members 22, 23, and/or the fasteners 40, 50 may be achieved in particular by sewing, gluing, welding or a combination of these techniques.

As shown in FIG. 4, the width of a first longitudinal flap 11 d of the canvas 11 extending between the closure strip 21 and the neighboring canvas edge 14 may be greater than the width of a second longitudinal flap 11 e of the canvas 11 extending between the closure strip 20 and the neighboring canvas edge 13, so that when two such hammocks are joined together by two of their respective closure strips, a flap 11 d of greater width may cover the area where the hammocks are joined together and improve impermeability.

The lower part of FIG. 5 shows a canvas 11 b forming a hammock 10, and the upper part of FIG. 5 shows a shelter 60 formed by a gabled roof canvas 11 a overhanging the hammock 10, the canvases 11 a, 11 b being identical or similar to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

In this FIG. 5, the hammock 10 is suspended from two supports (not shown), such as two trees, by deformable rope-like links 18 (partially shown) engaged in sleeves 17 provided along the transversal edges of the canvas 11 b, while the roof 11 a of shelter 60 is suspended from two supports (not shown), which may be those supporting the hammock 10, by deformable rope-like links 19 (partially shown) attached to the canvas 11 a by fasteners—such as the closed loops 40 a, 40 b shown in FIG. 4—provided along the transversal edges of the canvas 11 a.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the longitudinal edge 13 of canvas 11 a substantially overhangs the longitudinal edge 14 of canvas 11 b, while the longitudinal edge 14 of canvas 11 a substantially overhangs the longitudinal edge 13 of canvas 11 b.

The closure strips 20, 21 on each of the canvases 11 a, 11 b being complementary so as to form a slide fastener, when the canvases 11 a, 11 b—and the fasteners they include—are identical, the closure strip 20 on canvas 11 a may be engaged with the closure strip 21 on canvas 11 b so as to connect these canvases (after the canvases 11 a, 11 b have been brought together according to arrows 90) along two of their respective longitudinal edges.

In the same way, the closure strip 21 of canvas 11 a may be engaged with the closure strip 20 of canvas 11 b so as to connect these canvases along their respective two other longitudinal edges.

Particularly in this configuration, it is advantageous that at least the roof canvas 11 a has the triangular flaps 11 c shown in FIG. 4, which are provided in the central part of each transversal edge of the canvas, so that these flaps cover and/or surround part of the suspension links 18 of the hammock canvas 11 b, and protect them.

According to an alternative, not shown, the double-sloped shelter 60 overhanging and protecting the hammock 10 may be made of two canvases 11 a joined together along their respective longitudinal edges and attached together by the complementary closure strips fitted to these canvases.

FIGS. 6 to 8 illustrate aspects in the use of a hammock to form the roof of a tunnel shelter.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, shelter 60 has a canvas 11 such as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, which rests on three poles 30 to 32 that cross at the summits 31 s, 32 s of the arcuate poles 31, 32, which summits are adjacent to (approximately coincident with) the center of the straight ridge pole 30.

The ridge pole 30 is engaged in the holding pockets 22, 23 shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, and in a connector element 33 for poles 30 to 32, as shown in FIG. 9.

The transversal edges 15, 16 of canvas 11 may be connected to stakes planted in the ground by means of tighteners (not shown) which are engaged in the fasteners 40 a, 40 b fitted to the transversal edges of the canvas.

The longitudinal edges 13, 14 of canvas 11 may be connected to stakes planted in the ground by guy ropes (not shown) which are engaged in the fasteners 40 of the longitudinal edges of the canvas.

Preferably, each of the poles 30 to 32 includes an elastic (highly extensible) line 300, 310, 320 on (and around) which tubular pole sections 301, 311, 321 are guided.

With this configuration, the pole sections can in particular be folded together and thus be stored in a space-saving holder.

Each of the diagonal poles 31, 32 can also be shaped in an arc without excessive effort, the poles having a straight tubular shape at rest resulting from the alignment of the pole sections composing them.

As shown in FIG. 9, the connector 33 may be disc or crown shaped with six radial holes 330—or notches or bores—(and/or three diametral bores) which are traversing and intersect at a point on the axis of symmetry of the connector.

The three elastic lines 300, 310, 320 respectively of the three poles 30 to 32 extend with clearance in the holes 330, so as to traverse the connector 33 and cross—and/or overlap—substantially at said point of intersection of the holes.

The respective sections 301, 311, 321 (partially shown) of the poles 30 to 32, which abut against an external face of connector 33, do not traverse connector 33, whereby the connector may be thin and offer a substantially continuous contact of the canvas over the poles.

As shown schematically in FIG. 7, two (or more) tunnel shelters similar to the one shown in FIG. 6 may be joined (two by two) by the closure strips fitted respectively to the roof canvases 11, so as to form a deeper shelter 60.

Alternatively, a shelter such as the one shown in FIG. 6 may be fitted with a second roof canvas identical or similar to that of the shelter, which is attached to the roof canvas of the shelter by means of the closure strips to form an awning—or apse—extending the roof of the shelter.

For the construction of these shelters, a support structure 70 may be used, designed to maintain a determined distance 73 between two respective end portions of the poles 31, 32 that cross each other at their summits.

The support structure shown in FIG. 8 includes two strips or straps, each strip 70 having two holes 71 for receiving one of the end portions of the poles 31, 32.

For this purpose, each end portion of the poles 31, 32 may be engaged in one of the holes 71 according to the arrows 99.

Each strip 70 may be fitted with a tightener (not shown) to adjust the length of the strip, whereby the strip 70 has an adjustable length allowing the width and height of the shelter to be easily adjusted by changing the curvature of the poles 31, 32.

Each strip 70 may be secured to the ground by two stakes engaged in fasteners 72—such as loops—provided at each end of the strip.

Each strip 70 may also have a fastener 74—such as a loop —provided near each end of the strip, between a hole 71 and a loop 72.

Each fastener loop 74 may thus be connected to one of the fasteners 40 c at each corner of the shelter's canvas (see FIG. 4), for example by means of a tightener, so that each corner of the canvas can be positioned correctly.

In particular when the shelter includes a tent 100 (or tent chamber) with a roof 101 suspended at least from the poles 31, 32, as shown in FIG. 10, the structure for maintaining the distance between the feet of the poles 31, 32 can be made up of strips 70 attached to the ground sheet 1000 of the tent.

As shown in FIG. 11, two hammock canvases 11 joined together by their respective closure strips may form a substantially flat roof of a shelter which may be suspended from four supporting elements (not shown) by four deformable links 18 attached respectively to the four corners of the roof.

The invention makes it possible, in particular, to simply and quickly construct shelters of modular design whose shape and dimensions can be adapted to various needs. 

1. A hammock comprising a canvas of elongated shape along a longitudinal axis, the canvas having two longitudinal edges extending parallel to the longitudinal axis and two transversal edges connecting the ends of the longitudinal edges, comprising: a slide fastener having two closure strips attached to the canvas, which extend on one face of the canvas along the two longitudinal edges, respectively, and two members for receiving a pole, which are attached to the canvas, face each other and extend on said face of the canvas, between the closure strips, and are located in the respective middles of the two longitudinal edges, and that the canvas is waterproof.
 2. The hammock according to claim 1, which comprises several fasteners, such as closed loops, for securing deformable links, which are attached to the canvas, extend along each of the longitudinal edges, and include a fastener at each corner of the canvas.
 3. The hammock according to claim 1, which comprises several fasteners, such as open loops, for securing poles, which are attached to the canvas and extend between the closure strips, close to the ends of the longitudinal edges.
 4. The hammock according to claim 1, wherein at least part of at least one of the transversal edges is rectilinear or curvilinear, and in which the transversal edges are reinforced for receiving a deformable link for securing the hammock to a support.
 5. The hammock according to claim 1, wherein the closure strips have molded teeth made of plastic or metal.
 6. A shelter comprising a roof canvas including a hammock or several hammocks according to claim 1 which are joined together in pairs by their respective closure strips.
 7. The shelter according to claim 6, comprising a watertight roof canvas of elongated shape along a longitudinal axis, the canvas having two longitudinal edges extending parallel to the longitudinal axis and two transversal edges connecting the ends of the longitudinal edges, comprising: a slide fastener having two closure strips which are attached to the canvas and which extend on one face of the canvas along—and at a distance from—the two longitudinal edges respectively; a first compliant elongated pole having a first length close to—and generally less than—the width of the canvas; two second elongated compliant poles each having a second length close to—and generally greater than—the diagonal of the canvas; a connector for connecting the first and second poles; and two members for receiving the first pole, which are integral with the canvas, extend on said face of the canvas, between the closure strips, and face each other and are located respectively in the middles of the two longitudinal edges.
 8. The shelter according to claim 7 which further comprises a support structure configured to maintain a determined spacing between two respective end portions of the two second poles which cross each other at their summits.
 9. The shelter according to claim 8, wherein the support structure includes at least one band or strap pierced with at least one opening for receiving one of the end portions of the second poles.
 10. The shelter according to claim 8, wherein the support structure has an adjustable tightener, whereby the support structure has an adjustable length for adjusting the width and height of the shelter.
 11. The shelter according to claim 8, in which at least one of the poles includes an elastic line onto which tubular pole sections are threaded, and the connector is traversed by three respective elastic lines of the three poles, without the pole sections traversing the connector.
 12. The shelter according to claim 8 which includes a tent with a roof suspended from the second poles. 